C.O. jobless rates hold steady, down from year ago
Hiring was fairly typical across the High Desert in May, the state Employment Department reported Tuesday, meaning little or no change in jobless rates from April but still a big improvement from year-ago levels.
Strong job growth over the past couple years is beginning to spill over into Jefferson County, which was among Oregon’s fastest-growing economies, said Regional Economist Damon Runberg.
Crook County, meanwhile, “is struggling to overcome recent losses in wood product manufacturing,” Runberg said in his monthly report.
Unemployment rates were largely unchanged across the region in May, Runberg said.
Crook County: The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained essentially unchanged at 8.2 percent in May. The rate remains down significantly from last year, when it was 10.6 percent.
Crook County added 90 jobs in May, fewer than the expected gain of 150 jobs typical for this time of year.
Total nonfarm employment was down from last year (-100 jobs). Losses in wood product manufacturing (-180) were too large to be offset by the modest growth in other industries, such as construction, retail, and professional and business services.
Deschutes County (Bend-Redmond MSA): The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.6 percent in May, down from 8.3 percent in May 2014.
Hiring in May was typical for this time of year. Deschutes County added 930 jobs when 910 is the norm.
Deschutes County’s over-the-year job growth is beginning to slow, but the rate of growth was still among the strongest in Oregon (+5.5%).
The county added 3,780 jobs since last May, with the vast majority of those gains in the private sector.
Local education grew faster than any other industry, up 12.1 percent over the past year (+550 jobs). Health care and construction continue to be the biggest job growers in the private sector. However, all private industries added jobs from last May.
Jefferson County: The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 6.5 percent in May, down from 9.6 percent last May.
Jefferson County added 250 jobs in May, significantly more than the typical addition of 170 jobs.
Over the past year, Jefferson County added 370 jobs. Jefferson County’s rate of job growth (6.1%) was the second fastest of Oregon’s 36 counties. The majority of growth remains split between manufacturing and local government, which includes tribal employment.
Central Oregon’s job growth (in total non-farm payroll employment) over the past year was 3 percent and topped the state, edging the region ahead of Southern Oregon (2.9 percent) and the Willamette Valley (2.7 percent) as well as Portland (2.3 percent). There also was job growth, though at lower levels, for Eastern Oregon (1.4 percent) and the coast (0.4 percent).
The Oregon Employment Department plans to release the May county and metropolitan area unemployment rates on Tuesday, July 21 st and the statewide unemployment rate and employment survey data on Tuesday, July 14 th .
